Management & Leadership

Why should you benchmark? Measuring results is the best way to improve what you are doing. Benchmarking is a form of measurement – where you measure against something else to see where you are lagging, identify the areas and take corrective action. Even if you think you are doing everything right, how do you know […]

The Facilities Management profession has come a long way, and modern management, leadership and business practices are required not only for you to service your organization well, but to also compete internally for scarce resources and demonstrate your value. Here are the features of a High Performing FM Department that if you aren’t already doing, […]

Are you chasing best practices? While it’s fashionable, the problem is what to do when you catch those best practices. Do you implement them? Do you adapt them? Do you assess whether they will work for you? Do you learn why they are best practices? The notion of best practices is a good one, but […]

Here is a list of New Year’s resolutions every Facility Manager should follow over the next year. You’ll notice that the hot issues like Sustainability and Emergency Planning aren’t listed. Why? Because they are fundamentals of the job. This list reflects a new way of working for many Facility Managers who are dealing with technical […]

When you seek approval for resources or budgets, whether operating, capital, resources or initiatives such as implementing FM Systems, subcontracting, outsourcing, etc., you aren’t just selling the merits of your own requirements, you are competing head-to-head with your colleagues in the company for those resources.

The modern Facility Manager needs a slightly different mix of skills to navigate not just within the profession, but within their own organizations to be successful, especially if they want to become the Head of FM, whether for a small organization or a multi-national corporation. The FM Knowledge Grid illustration (see a larger one further […]

Managing facilities often includes managing the physical assets. But getting into a system is often daunting, particularly for smaller portfolios. Unfortunately, without a way to manage the assets, you won’t have the information you need to make decisions about repair vs replace or information to justify your budget requirements. You are also much more likely […]

Steelcase Juggler Videos Here are the original Juggler videos from the 1990’s, produced by Steelcase. While dated, they provide a very pointed view of the Facility Manager – and unfortunately, not much has really changed since.

In my Webinar on Information Based Decisions (see the link below), I spoke about getting and using information for your benefit. While you need an FM system and should work towards getting approval and implementing one, if you already have one, the question is whether you use it for information, not just process management. Whether […]